Call Me Judith
by suzie2b
Summary: An old friend of Tully's shows up.


**Disclaimer:** _ **The Rat Patrol**_ **is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.**

 **Call Me Judith**

 **By Suzie2b**

 **Hitch and Tully were walking across the base headed for dinner at the mess hall. They had just finished getting the jeeps ready for their mission that started first thing in the morning. As they crossed the street, they heard a voice call, "Tully James Pettigrew! Is that you?"**

 **For a second Tully saw a picture of his mother in his mind, hands on hips, catching him red-handed at some misdeed. He and Hitch turned to see a woman with salt and pepper hair walking towards them.**

 **Her smile widened as she neared and said, "Tully! I knew it was you the moment I saw you! What is 52,253x826?"**

 **Tully's eyes got big as he recognized her. "Ms. McGrath?" He smiled as he gave her a hug and kissed her cheek. "What are you doing here?"**

 **She took a step back and indicated her uniform. "I'm with the Red Cross." Ms. McGrath looked at him critically. "Now, what's the answer?"**

" **43,560,978 … but what are you doing in North Africa? Wait a minute. You're with the group that my unit is escorting to Eritrea with a load of vaccine, aren't you?"**

 **Ms. McGrath nodded. "Yes I am. I knew from your letters that you were stationed here and was hoping I'd see you." She looked at Hitch. "And who's this?"**

 **Tully quickly glanced at his friend. "Oh, sorry. This is Mark Hitchcock. We work together. Hitch, this is Ms. Judith McGrath. She was my high school math teacher."**

 **Hitch smiled as he shook the offered hand. "Pleased to meet you, ma'am."**

 **Ms. McGrath grinned. "I think we're past the time for formalities, Mark. Please call me Judith."**

" **Yes, ma'am … I mean Judith."**

 **Tully said, "Hitch and I were just going to the mess hall for some dinner. Would you care to join us?"**

 **Judith nodded. "I'd love to."**

 **Over dinner Judith told stories about a younger Tully. How, though somewhat quiet, he was quite the prankster and more than once got sent to the principal's office after being caught. Tully also had a string of girlfriends in high school. "I suppose you're still a ladies man. Forever a bachelor."**

 **Tully smiled. "No, ma'am. I got married a while back."**

 **Judith gasped in surprise. "Well, as I live and breathe! You should have written me. I never would have believed it if I didn't hear it from you personally."**

 **Tully chuckled. "Well heck, you never told me you joined the Red Cross." He pulled a small picture out of his ID holder and handed it to Judith. "Her name's Charley."**

" **Oh my. She's quite lovely. You must miss her terribly."**

" **I do, but she'll be back by the time we get back from this assignment."**

 **Judith gave Tully a puzzled look. "She'll be back … here?"**

 **Tully smiled. "Yep. Charley's a volunteer courier. She left yesterday on a mission. We met not too long after she got to North Africa. Her father's a colonel back at Fort Belvoir, Virginia."**

" **Well, isn't that something."**

 **Hitch asked, "How did you go from being a math teacher to a Red Cross worker, Judith?"**

" **I retired from teaching last year. I heard the Red Cross was looking for volunteers, so I thought 'why not'. I never married and don't have any family left to worry about me. Since I needed something to occupy my time, I decided to do my part and volunteered. They trained me to be a nurse's aide."**

 **Wanting to know more about his friend Hitch asked, "Was Tully a good student?"**

 **Judith went on to explain that while he wasn't a brilliant student, Tully was smart and received good grades in all of his classes with the exception of math. "He was on the verge of not graduating because of a missing math credit. I discussed the issue with his parents and began to tutor him three days week after school. With a little extra time and effort Tully finally caught on and never looked back. He got a B+ in my class."**

 **Tully said, "Ms. McGrath became more than a teacher. She became my friend."**

 **Judith sighed. "I do wish you'd call me Judith, Tully."**

 **After dinner and more talk, Judith retired to her quarters for the night. Hitch smiled at Tully and said, "I didn't know you had a middle name."**

 **Tully shrugged. "Only ever got used by my mother when she'd get mad at me … and by a few teachers. Didn't even use it when I signed up for the army. Tully was my great-grandad's name on my father's side. James was my great-grandad's name on my mother's side."**

 **##################**

 **The next day a small convoy of just two trucks, which included the Red Cross workers and the vaccine, headed out to Eritrea with the Rat Patrol as escort.**

 **It had been a quiet morning, so after several hours they stopped for a break. The two jeeps drove up and stopped at the truck the Red Cross workers were riding in. Tully grinned as he got out of the jeep and Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch gathered around. "Ms. McGrath, I'd like you to meet the rest of my unit." He pointed to Moffitt. "This is Sergeant Jack Moffitt." Then at Troy. "And Sergeant Sam Troy."**

 **Judith shook their hands warmly. "A pleasure to meet you both." She looked at Hitch. "Good morning, Mark."**

 **He grinned. "Morning, Judith."**

 **She turned back to the sergeants and smiled. "I've been watching you zipping around in your jeeps keeping an eye on things. Tully and Hitch are very good drivers."**

 **Troy grinned. "Two of the best, ma'am."**

 **Judith said, "Please, call me Judith. I suppose Tully running moonshine as a teenager did give him some early practice for the job." Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch looked her with surprise and she laughed. "Oh it wasn't a secret. There were plenty of times I'd let him hide in my barn until it was safe for him to go home."**

 **Tully rolled his matchstick to the corner of his mouth with a smile. "I always appreciated the fact I had somewhere to hold up when the revenuers were after me."**

 **The rest of the day went off without any problems and they rolled into Eritrea just before 2pm. Supplies were unloaded and tables set up for the Red Cross workers to use. Vaccine was administered to the local population until the sun went down.**

 **The next morning began with another long line of people waiting reluctantly for a shot. Moffitt helped with translations while Troy, Hitch, and Tully tried to locate any stragglers who were too afraid to receive the vaccine.**

 **Over dinner that evening Judith sighed as she said, "Well, I'm glad that's done. At least this is another town safe from the measles outbreak. I hope the other teams are having the same luck as we are with the people."**

 **Moffitt nodded. "I'm sure they are. The Arabs are ignorant of the use of vaccine as a preventative and can be quite reluctant at times to use what is introduced to them by what some see as an enemy. But when explained to them, they usually come around."**

 **Judith nodded. "I can understand that." She covered a yawn with the back of her hand. "I believe I'll turn in now. I'll see you all in the morning."**

 **Tully stood and said, "I'll walk you to your quarters." They walked in silence for a minute, her arm through his, then he asked, "When are you and the others heading back to the states, Ms. McGrath?"**

" **This was our last stop. When we get back to Ras Tanura we'll fly out to England and then back to the United States." Ms. McGrath gave Tully a stern look. "When are you going to start calling me Judith like everyone else?"**

 **Tully just smiled and shrugged.**

 **##################**

 **The small convoy was about halfway back to base when the German column showed up. They appeared from the backside of a hill and were on the convoy before the Rat Patrol had a chance to see them and react. But once they did it didn't take long for the Germans to hightail it out of the area.**

 **They rushed back to the trucks to see if anyone had been injured. One of the drivers was dead and two of the Red Cross workers were injured—Judith McGrath was one of them.**

 **Tully tried to keep his mind on his job as he drove alongside the truck with Judith and the other injured worker inside being treated by the Red Cross nurses.**

 **When they arrived at the base hospital, Tully followed Judith's stretcher inside. Moffitt and Hitch took the jeeps to the motor pool while Troy went to report to Captain Boggs.**

 **Charley was in the mess tent when she heard that the convoy was back and there were injuries. She ran quickly to the hospital to discover, to her relief, that Tully wasn't one of them. She found him sitting in a chair next to the door that Judith and the other injured worker had been taken through for examination.**

 **When Tully saw Charley coming his way he stood and enveloped her in his arms. Charley hugged him tightly and asked quietly, "I heard there were injuries. Is it one of the guys?"**

 **Tully reluctantly pushed her back and had her sit down. He squatted down next to her and gave Charley the short version about who Judith McGrath was and what had happened.**

 **After a time Dr. Baker appeared and told them, "The nurse with the shoulder wound is in surgery and there's no reason to think she won't recover."**

 **Tully asked worriedly, "What about Ms. McGrath?"**

 **The doctor shook his head solemnly. "I'm afraid there's too much damage and too much blood loss."**

" **So she's…"**

" **No, but she doesn't have much time left. She'd like to see you."**

 **Tully nodded and followed Dr. Baker through the door with Charley in tow.**

 **The doctor left them next to the gurney where Judith lay and signaled the nurse that was attending her to come with him. Tully took a breath and took Judith's hand. She opened her eyes and he managed a slight smile as he said, "Doc Baker says you're gonna be okay."**

 **Judith looked up at him with a wane smile. "You were never a very good liar, Tully Pettigrew. The doctor has told me I don't have a lot of time left."**

" **I'm sorry, Ms. McGrath."**

 **She squeezed his hand. "Don't be. It's not your fault. And I don't regret what I've done." Judith took a labored breath. "I wanted you to know that, not only did you become my friend, but also the son I never had."**

 **Tully gave a slight nod. "You were like a second mother." Then he brought Charley close and put an arm around her. "This is my wife Charley."**

 **Judith reached for her and Charley took her hand. "More beautiful than the picture Tully showed me."**

 **Charley wiped a tear away. "Thank you, Ms. McGrath."**

" **Call me … Judith."**

 **She was slipping away as Tully again took his friend's hand and whispered close to her ear, "I'm glad you came … Judith."**

 **With the last of her strength, Judith wiped a tear off of Tully's cheek and with her final breath she said, "Finally."**


End file.
